BRITISH HEROISM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 169, 23 December 1914, Page 5

BRITISH HEROISM.

[ WORTHY OF WATERLOO. ( 5n,000 HERMANS KILLED IN ONE • WEEK. ' Paris, November 8. A Frond) officer attached to the In- ( dian troops in France lias communicated | to the Temps an extremely interesting | description of the part played by the British army in the recent operations in the north. He pays a tribute to the heroism and powers of resistance of all the British forces fighting in the cause of the Allies. The special correspondent of the Temps who was an <yc-witncss of the operations, says: r "What I wish to lay stress on, because ! it behoves us Frenchmen to render to our I Allies the homage due to them, is the [ admirable courage which the British troops have displayed unceasingly since I their arrival at the front. ( "I am unable to say whether the : official communiques have allowed the J public properly to realise the part which . they had to fulfil. They had the difliI cult mission of checking the hew Herman invasion from La Bassee to Ypres. In order to acquit themselves of this task hev had to hold the trenches for several weeks against an enemy not only supcr- [ ior in numbers, but attacking with a sort of desperate resolution. "In many places at the commencement of this new battle the British troops showed an obstinacy worthy of "Waterloo. They were in danger, if not- of being pierced, at any rate of being driven back. Nevertheless, they held their own in these perilous conditions. "For some days, or rather nights, the ' British trenches were surprised by the ! enemy, but a counter-attack was im- ' mediately prepared, and the. trenches | ivere retaken, even at the greatest sacrifice. "These deeds are the more admirable, inasmuch as they were accomplished by I troops suffering from the fatigues of a long campaign (excision by censor). The battalions returned to the firing line with the same dash as the others.

"It is, perhaps, the British cavalry which has most brilliantly distinguished itself. On October 30th and 31st the Oermans made a great elFort against it, doubtless thinking they would be able to overcome a cavalry corps defending the trenches more easily than the others. The artillery fire directed against this part of the front attained an inconceivable intensity (excision by censor). They were obliged to evacuate some of their positions, but only to retake them shortly afterwards. ' "The same British cavalry (excision by censor) returned to the charge with complete contempt of death. "A Lancer regiment, for instance, was ordered to regain possession of the town of Messines. Bayonets had been served out to the men, who used them for the first time. They attacked the town like hardened infantrymen, and swept the enemy out completely. I should add that these sorely-tried troops showed the same cheerfulness as our TVneh troopers, this characteristic alone being sufficient to strengthen the bond of sympathy between them and us. "The Tndian contingent had its full share of both losses and glory. Scarcely 'landed, tflioso Indian regiments were

thrown into the centre of the furnace. During the first week of the battle they sustained losses unflinchingly (iSeision by censor), and never at any moment was there the slightest sign of wavering. "Tf our Allies wished to make an experiment in bringing troops from India, the experiment has given decisive results (excision by censor). If the British army has sull'crd appreciable losses, tliev are insignificant with those of the cnemv.

"The battle of Flanders vill prove to have been one of those ill w lic-h the Hermans sustained their greitest losses.

Night attacks have been fir the enemy no less deadly than those made in the daytime. On .several occasions at dawn, after a night engagement, i single British battalion has been able o count opposite its trenches six to se en hundred Herman corpses. Two or three days ago a. British battery surprised a Herman brigade in close formation, and in a few minutes massacred n;>arly 4000 men. "From another source I am able to state that the Hermans lost 50,000 killed during last week's fighting on the Yser.'>